1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the art of feeding particulate bulk material such as dry powder from a stock pile source in a container to an outlet at a desired rate and specifically deals with an inexpensive simple portable self-cleaning feeder utilizing a conventional open coil helical spring rotating between concentric spaced pipes to stir powder material in a low level pile and deliver it to a high level outlet.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional screw conveyors have fixed vanes on a central shaft or hub providing a heavy rotating assembly which frequently becomes clogged especially when conveying sticky or hygroscopic materials. It would therefore be an improvement in this art to provide a self-cleaning feeder made from conventional inexpensive pipe and coil spring components providing a stationary annular passage in which the spring rotates to convey the material from an inlet at one end of the pipes and an outlet at the other end of the pipes. It would be a further specific improvement in this art to simultaneously agitate or stir the material in a stock pile supplying the feeder. A still further improvement would be to provide a portable feeder carried by a supply container adapted to be placed adjacent a receiving tank.